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Photos cannot be opened because of a problem

Hello everyone,


So I always back-up my photos app to an external hard drive and whenever I wanted to get those photos back I would just reopen it in my MacBook Pro. I've been doing this since 2012 till 2017. Now ever since I updated to Sierra I get the message of "Photos cannot be opened because of a problem"


Please see screenshot ... any input as to how to resolve this?


TIA

Posted on Sep 11, 2019 6:34 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 12, 2019 1:10 PM

The images are not stored in the Photos application. They are stored in the Photos Library which is located, by default, in your Pictures folder. You've been backing up the wrong file, the application and, since it's an older version won't run on the newer system you have.


Unless you have a backup of the library package itself, it should look like this:



you don't have a backup of the library.


You're best solution is to get an external HD and use Time Machine to backup your entire boot drive, including the library: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support



1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 12, 2019 1:10 PM in response to verolavie

The images are not stored in the Photos application. They are stored in the Photos Library which is located, by default, in your Pictures folder. You've been backing up the wrong file, the application and, since it's an older version won't run on the newer system you have.


Unless you have a backup of the library package itself, it should look like this:



you don't have a backup of the library.


You're best solution is to get an external HD and use Time Machine to backup your entire boot drive, including the library: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support



Photos cannot be opened because of a problem

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